Title: Two of Hearts
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, 50ficlets
Prompt: 40, Hold
Author's Note: Slight spoilers for the Torchwood episode Cyberwoman.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own Ianto Jones or the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

Ianto snuggled into the warmth of the pillows and quilts of the bed he shared with the Doctor, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. This was nothing short of heaven to him, and he intended to savor it for as long as he could.

It wasn't often that he awakened before the Doctor did. The Time Lord didn't need as much sleep as a human, and usually, Ianto would awaken to realize that his lover wasn't beside him in bed -- or that the other man was fidgeting restlessly.

He didn't mind that, not really. It was understandable that the Doctor didn't want to stay in bed; he was the sort of man who needed to stay active, to keep moving around. It was a facet of his personality that Ianto had grown used to.

But still, it was nice to wake up like this in the morning and discover that the Time Lord was still asleep in his arms, and not ready to jump out of bed to begin the day. Because it happened so rarely, Ianto wanted to take the time to enjoy the sensation.

Being able to hold the Doctor like this, to look down at his face, to drink in those beautiful features that were softened in sleep .... just the sight of his beloved sleeping so peacefully in his arms almost brought tears to his eyes.

It wasn't that he didn't get to hold the Doctor at other times. Whenever they watched a movie, the Time Lord would invariably wind up in his arms as they cuddled on the couch. Oh yes, he could get his fill of holding the Doctor any time he wanted to do so.

Though not like this. There was something special about being able to hold the Doctor in this way, to have his lover in his arms while he slept. It gave him a feeling of being protective, of holding his lover's destiny within his own hands.

Of course, he would never presume to do that. The Doctor wasn't someone who could be controlled by the vagaries of fate, or by what other people wanted for him. He was a man who was firmly at the helm of his own life.

When Ianto held him like this, he could feel that he and the Doctor were as one. He could synchronize his breathing to fall in with the Time Lord's; he could even almost feel his heartbeat keeping perfect time with the rhythm of those dual hearts in his lover's chest.

He'd never felt this close to anyone before. No other lover had ever made him feel as though he was literally a part of them; he'd been a part of their lives, but he'd never let his very heart and soul meld with anyone's the way he had with the Doctor.

He had held other people as they slept before; he'd looked down at other faces and thought that he was as happy as he could possibly be. But he'd been fooling himself, or at least trying to; he'd always known that something was missing.

Now, he could look down at the man in his arms and know that he was exactly where he belonged; all of the missing puzzle pieces had fallen into place. There was no longer an empty space in his life that he had always been seeking to fill; one heart had become two. Or three, in their case.

The Time Lord had slipped into that space effortlessly; it was where he'd always belonged, and Ianto had known it from the first moment their eyes had met. He'd had no doubt at all in his mind from that first handshake, that first glance, that this was his mate.

And even if he'd had any doubts whatsoever, that first kiss would have swept them all away. That kiss had been a revelation; it had shown Ianto that nothing he'd ever felt for another being had come close to the emotions that the Doctor aroused in him.

Never before had he felt so comfortable with another person in his arms; he'd never wanted to open his heart to anyone in the way he did to the Doctor. Not even Jack had made him want to get that close, and at the time, he'd thought the immortal was the love of his life.

But he'd been wrong. The man who was now sleeping peacefully in his arms, each breath matching his own, was the only love he'd ever been meant for. He'd loved others in the past, but never with the all-consuming passion he had for the Doctor.

Holding him like this felt the culmination of every dream he'd ever had; he was more peaceful and contented than he'd ever been in his entire life. It was as though he'd finally found something that he'd been searching for all of his life, without quite knowing what it was.

Ianto smiled at that thought, leaning back against the pillows and closing his eyes. He knew what he'd been searching for now. The love he'd always known was out there, the other half of his soul. And now that he'd found that love, he was going to hold it close to his heart for all eternity.

***